John t



V J. T. WARING. Machinery for Felting Hat Bodies, Sac. No. 241,461;

' (N0 Model.)

Patented May 10, 1881.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN TfwARrne, on NEW YORK, N. Y.

MACHINERY FOR FELTING HAT-BODIES, 86C.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 241,461, dated May 10,1881.

Application filed March 24, 1881.

T 0 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOHN T. WARING, of thecity, county, and State of New York, havein- "vented certain newanduseful Improvements in Machinery for Felting Hat-Bodies and otherArticles, of which the following is a specification.

This invention is more especially applicable to that class offelting-machine the principal elements of which are rollers havingparallel or nearly parallel axes, and between andlen gthwise of whichthe rolls of hat-bodies or other articles to he felted are placed andsubjected to arolling operation; but it may be wholly or in part appliedto felting machineS in which the workingfaces are of othenform than thatof the peripherical surfaces of rollers.

One part of the invention consists in felting rollers or \vorking-surfaces for felting-machines having a series of cavities which, inthe direction of the revolution or working movement, are of greaterwidth near the middle, and taper toward the ends of the rollers or themargins of the working-surfaces.

It also consists in rollers or working-surfaces having a series ofridges which run lengthwise of the rollers or transverse to thedirection of movement of the working-faces, and which are narrower atand near the middle of their length, and wider toward the ends of therollers or the margins of the workingsurfaces. These ridges may be madeof clastic material.

It also consists in the novel construction of such ridges and cavitiesin the rollers.

It further consists in the combination, in a felting-machine, of aroller having a longitudinally-ridged periphery or perimeter, and asleeve or covering of india-rubber or other elastic material appliedtightly over the ridges of said roller, and capable of beingdepressedinto the cavities or grooves between the said ridges.

Figure l in the drawings is a top view of a set of three rollers forafelting-machine, illustrating my invention. Fig. 2 is a transversesection of the same. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal view of a rollerillustrating a modification of the ridges and cavities in the peripheryor working-face. Fig. 4. is a transverse section of a roller,illustrating a method of constructing the ridges and cavities in theperiphery. Fig. 5 exhibits a transverse section of three rollers,

ripheries or working-surfaces.

(No model.)

illustrating the application of the elastic sleeve or covering to theirridged and grooved peripheries.

The rollers A A shown in Figs. 1 and 2 have ridges a a and cavities I)bin their pe- The cavities I) b, the form of which is best shown in Fig.1, are of what is familiarly known as diamond shape. They are shown asextending the whole length of the rollers, and having, in the directionof the revolution of the rollers, their greatest width at the middle ofthe length of the rollers, and tapering toward theends thereof. Theridges formed between these cavities are narrowest at the middle of thelength of the rollers and gradually wider toward the ends thereof.Ridges c c are also shown projecting within the cavities I) I), to thesame height as the ridges a a, the faces of all the said ridges beingconcentric with the axes of their respective rollers. A taper cavity, 0,is also shown in oneof theprojectionsa. All the projections a a may havesimilar cavities e. The rollers may, however, be made without thecavities e .and ridgesc.

The roller A shown in Fig. 3 is like those shown in Figs. 1 and 2,except that the cavities b I) are not tapered so much as to bring themto sharp points at their ends, and do not extend quite to the ends ofthe rollers. The rollers may be made with their working-surfacesentirely of wood, or other hard material, as shown in Fig. 2; or theridges a a may be composed of lags of india-rubber or other elasticmaterial, and inserted, as shown in Fig. 4, into dovetail grooves 61 din the'hard bodies of the rollers, or otherwise secured to the rollersin any suitable manner. When the rollers having their peripheriesconstructed with cavities b wider in the middle and tapering towardtheir ends are:-.workin g together, the said cavities in the severalrollers combine to form between the rollers pockets or cavities whichare largest at the middle, and so better adapted to receive the rolls ofhat-bodies, which are always larger in the middle, and by this means abetter felting operation is produced. Moreover, when the ridges b b aremade of elastic vulcanized india-rubber, the said ridges, being narrowerat the middle of the length of the rollers and giving lessbearing-surface in that part, yield more readily'to pressure, and thefaces of the said ridges tend to assume a concave longitudinal profile,which makes the felting action of the rollers more effective.

In Fig. 5, f f represent elastic vulcanized india-rubber sleeves orcoverings applied to the peripheries of the rollers. These sleeves orcoverings, which might be tubes drawn tightly over the rollers or bemade of stout sheet-rubber lapped around and secured firmly to therollers, are drawn tight over the faces of the ridges a a, so that-emptyspaces are left in the cavities b I). In the operation of the rollersthe india-rubber sleeve or covering will be caused to yield between theridges a a and be depressed into the cavities b b. These sleeves orcoverings may be applied not only to rollers with ridges and cavities ofthe form hereinabove represented and described, but to rollers withridges and cavities of other form.

The form of the ridges and cavities hereinabove described is not onlyadapted for rollers, but is also applicable to felting surfaces of anyother kindas, for instance, aprons or belts.

In some cases it may be practicable to use one or more rollers orworking-surfaces with ridges and cavities of the form and constructionherein described, and one or more plain rollers or working-surfaces.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a felting-machine, rollers or workingsurfaces having cavities b b,wider in the middle and taper toward the ends or margins, substantiall yas herein described.

2. In a felting-machine, rollers or working surfaces having ridges-a a,narrower in the middle and widening toward the ends or margins,substantially as herein described.

3. In a felting-machine, rollers having their bodies of hard material,and provided with ridges of elastic or yielding material, substantiallyas herein described.

4. The combination, with a ridged feltingroller, of sleeves or coveringsof elastic or yielding material, substantially as herein described.

JOHN T. WARING. Witnesses: I

H ENEY T. BROWN, '1. J. KEANE.

